KATHMANDU: In a bid to boost tourism to Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse will be the first guest on board the national carrier Sri Lankan when it resumes direct flights to and from Kathmandu next month after a long gap.
Coming on an invitation from Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, the Sri Lankan president will head a delegation to Kathmandu in the first week of March when he will enter into bilateral negotiations, according to Sisira Kothalawala, minister counsellor at the Sri Lankan embassy in Kathmandu.
The visit coincides with the second BIMSTEC summit in New Delhi in November.
Rajapakse will meet Prachanda, President Ram Baran Yadav, Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav and opposition leader and former premier Girija Prasad Koirala.
The Lankan president is also expected to visit the celebrated shrines in Nepal associated with the Buddha. They include Lumbini in southern Nepal where the Sri Lankan government has constructed a monastery, and the Ananda Kutti Vihar in Kathmandu.
The three-day visit, the exact dates of which will not be disclosed immediately due to security reasons, will kick off direct flights by Sri Lanka’s national carrier Sri Lankan to Kathmandu. Kothalawala said there would be three flights a week.
Last month, Nepal and Sri Lanka revised their 10-year-old air services agreement to start direct flights between the two capitals, keeping in mind the growing number of Sri Lankan tourists to Nepal. Sri Lanka is also the current chair of Saarc, whose headquarters is in Kathmandu.
Nepal is following with keen interest the battle in Sri Lanka between the Tamil Tigers and the state forces.
The media here has covered the capture by Lankan troops of Kilinochhi, once the stronghold of the LTTE. – Agencies |
